Not removed from the principle path to his cabin outdoors of Fort Smith, N.W.T., there’s a drawing of what seems to be an individual, etched in purple onto a bit of rock.
“The image is completely clear,” stated Mercredi. “I am unsure if that is a canoe or a vessel of some type that he is standing in … and appears like a moon over high.”
Mercredi stated his father confirmed it to him, for the primary time, within the ’60s.
He believes the drawing predates the time his father began trapping within the space within the Thirties. The retired Fort Smith elder additionally remembered listening to folks discuss it when he was a child.
“These folks have been older than my dad too, so it has been there a very long time.”
Mercredi and his spouse, Barb, took images of the drawing and shared them with CBC hoping for solutions to their decades-old questions on who marked the rock and why.
And though he wasn’t capable of present particular solutions, Glen MacKay, a territorial archeologist with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, was capable of present some context.
92-year-old letter accommodates a idea
After seeing images of the drawing on-line, MacKay stated he took a glance by way of the centre’s recordsdata and located a letter, dated Jan. 10, 1929, from an RCMP officer posted in Fort Smith.
The letter says the drawing is “very outdated” and was painted by Cree pursued by the Tlicho Dene.
“This info was furnished to me by the Chipewyan Chief ‘Outdated Squirrel,'” it reads. It goes on to say the Tlicho, “seeing this design or drawing, deserted their pursuit.”
The letter additionally says the chief, himself, added the syllabics on the backside.
“The primary line solely of this writing is seen and reads: ‘Right here is the story of a Cree written a very long time in the past.'”
The letter signifies there are two or three traces under the primary line, that are “vague.”
It’s addressed to a Mr. Marius Barbeau in Ottawa. In accordance with The Governor Normal of Canada’s web site, an ethnologist and folklorist of the identical title, from Ottawa, was posthumously awarded the Order of Canada in 1967 for writing that “raised consciousness of the cultural heritage of the primary inhabitants of Canada.”
MacKay stated in the course of the occasions of the early fur commerce within the early- to mid-Nineteenth century, there have been tensions between the Cree and the Dene as Cree fur merchants moved additional north for trapping alternatives.
“That will play into this story … however we do not actually know way more about it,” he stated.
Mercredi suspected the drawing was written in purple ochre. That, stated MacKay, is appropriate.
“Purple ochre is a quite common mineral that was used to create rock artwork everywhere in the world. I believe it, combined with rendered animal fats or one thing alongside these traces, created a pleasant paint.”
N.W.T.’s ‘superb’ archeological report
MacKay stated it might be nice to study extra concerning the drawing, and to collaborate with elders in Fort Smith and study from the information they carry.
“It is a part of the historical past of the N.W.T., so it is actually necessary that we study it and have fun it, and be capable of present that info to the folks of the N.W.T.”
MacKay encourages anybody who finds a drawing or an artifact to not contact it, however to take a photograph of it, mark it on a map or decide its GPS coordinates if attainable, and submit that info to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
“That offers us the chance, by placing that in our database, to higher defend these websites sooner or later if there is a highway being constructed or one thing like that.”
Mercredi believes the drawing has been preserved so nicely due to its distance from city and the character of the rock’s floor.
“The rock face is simply undercut a bit of bit, so any water that runs off would not appear to have an effect on it in any respect,” he stated. “I used to be really teasing my spouse, stated possibly it is a UFO selecting [the figure] up. He would not have time to attract, if it was!” he laughed.
MacKay, in the meantime, stated there are seemingly extra drawings and artifacts to be discovered.
“I believe there may be this superb archeological report nonetheless to be found within the N.W.T.,” he stated.
“We have solely scratched the floor.”
